Tuesday, March 20 2018 14:36

ArmInfo.A meeting of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of Francophonie opened in Yerevan.  About 50 parliamentarians from 27 countries attended the meeting.

In his welcoming speech to the participants of the meeting, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Ara Babloyan, in particular, stressed the high level of cooperation between Armenia and the OIF, which is evidenced not only by the  holding of this event in Yerevan, but also by the forthcoming summit  of the organization in the Armenian capital this fall.

 He also recalled that as early as 2015, the Ministerial Meeting of the  International Olympic Committee was held in Yerevan.

Then he touched upon the Karabakh issue, reminding the guests that  Nagorno-Karabakh was transferred to Azerbaijan by an arbitrary  decision of the USSR leadership in 1923. "However, now the Karabakh  people have gained the opportunity to build an independent and  democratic state following the liberation movement and victorious  war.Artsakh today is an independent, development and democratic  republic with its own attributes of power, however, the Karabakh  conflict has not been settled yet," Babloyan said, that the Karabakh  conflict can be resolved only peacefully in accordance with  international norms, in particular, the principle of the people's  right to self-determination. "Today it is impossible to imagine  Artsakh as part of Azerbaijan, where the Armenianophobia became a  state policy," he said, adding that the unrecognized Artsakh should  not be the reason for the unrealization of the rights and freedoms of  the Artsakh people.

According to Babloyan, Artsakh is actively trying to establish  relations with the OIF, which is facilitated by the numerous visits  of French-speaking parliamentarians to the NKR, in spite of the  protests of Baku.  Efforts are also being made to form the Youth  Parliament of Francophonia in Artsakh, which will contribute to the  development of the French language, as well as the values of the  organization in the republic.  In his welcoming speech, Armenian  Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian told the guests about the  forthcoming summit of the Francophonie in Yerevan, which will be held  under the heading "To live together." "Living together means to  create together, to share human values together, which will help  improve the global situation in the world." The Armenian people, who  survived the Genocide and found shelter in various countries of the  world, know what it means to live together. "Together we must fight  extremism and radicalism, "Nalbandian concluded, stressing that a  business forum will be held within the framework of the Francophonia  summit, and the" Francophonie "quarter will open in Yerevan.  It  should be noted that the participants of the Yerevan session of the  PA OIF visited the memorial of the victims of the Genocide  Tsitsernakaberd and laid flowers to the eternal fire.